Jesus didn't come for the righteous

Everyone in the world had sinned and none was righteous. That was why Jesus came into this world and offered salvation for people from their sins (Mt.1:21). What is the biggest hindrance for man to come to this Saviour? It is that people think they don't need to be 'saved'! They are already righteous enough for God! They consider themselves to be better than sinners (Lk.18:11). Some of them count on religious practices to qualify with God, and many imagine they are Christians because they go to church, read the Bible and pray. They admit they are not perfect, but they feel sure that God cannot reject them after all the good they have done and all the bad they have avoided at great cost!

If only they could admit that they were sinners in the sight of the holy God, they could have been saved. But because they will not admit their sin and go to the willing Saviour, they throw away their only chance of salvation. Jesus compared this to those who would not recognise their sickness and avoided going to a doctor (Mk.2:17).

But my concern is for those who have come to the Saviour already but who now assume that they are already saved and do not need any more salvation! In their mind they have already received eternal life, their relationship with God has been freely settled for them by Jesus, and their eternity is kept ready for them in heaven. They maintain this status by attending church, reading the Bible, etc., and assume everything is ok.

When we come to God through faith in Jesus, God washes away our sins by the blood of the Lamb, He adopts us as His children and gives us a part in the body of Christ. What is remaining except waiting for the coming of Jesus?

We have not become like Jesus! We still have struggles with our sinful nature, and in many ways we are unable to do what we know we ought to be doing, and we do what we know we must not be doing (Ro.7:15). The apostle Paul was honest about this and as a result he reached great heights of godliness. The apostle Peter called becoming like Jesus as the most precious of all of God's promises (2Pe.1:3,4). But we people excuse ourselves by blaming our human weakness or others who provoke us. Whatever excuses or justifications we give, it remains a fact that we have not become like Jesus in many areas of our life. If we admit this honestly to God and to ourselves, there is still hope for salvation. God's promise is that sin will not be able to rule over us after we have come into His grace (Ro.6:14).

But it doesn't mean that this will happen automatically after we come to Jesus in the first place. Neither can we imagine that it will happen in the twinkling of an eye when we are resurrected. What that means is only that our body will be replaced by an imperishable body.

When we choose to deny ourselves and do the will of God whenever we are tempted, that is the means through which we are given the opportunity to become like Jesus (Ro.6:11-13).